Italians relocating to London - but are they happy?

Italians are still massively relocating to London but
they seem less enthusiastic than before. The newspaper “Il fatto quotidiano”
has recently published an article collecting some young people’s disappointing
experiences in the Uk Capital.

Istat data showed that during 2014 the number of Italians
expatriated to live permanently in London has increased by almost a thousand
compared to 2013.

The new immigration wave was confirmed to be very young:
The majority of the 500.000 Italian people listed in the AIRE register and not,
are in the 18-34 age group. 55% are men and 45% are women.

37% of these immigrants have a degree and only 11% are
young people who have only compulsory school level. The regions of origin are
mainly from the north: Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia, and Lazio in the centre, while
the number decreases towards the south. The smallest number of immigrants are
from Basilicata, Molise and Valle d’Aosta.

The most required professions in the UK are engineers and
researchers, but young Italians often work in bars and restaurants as a starting
point or as their final job.

The economical crisis is clearly the main reason forcing
Italians abroad in search of better opportunities, in the hope that London will
offer what they can’t find at home. Is this still the case?

In an article recently published on the online page of the newspaper “Il fatto
quotidiano” some young Italians talked about their dissatisfaction for their
choice of emigrating to London.

The complaints were about the difficulty of creating
stable social relationships, the too high cost of living and a disappointing
lack of job opportunities for some sectors. Many of them decided to return to
Italy where life is cheaper, they feel at home, and the sun shines.

Other complaints were about the binge drinking and the
frantic life style to which many Italians didn’t want to adapt to. In addition
to this there was dissatisfaction connected to the low level of the national
health service, the low quality of public college instruction and a too much
career focus life style.